Too Much Work
by Storychan
Summary: 3 years ago,19-year-old Himeko was the devoted wife of Jounouchi. Now she's she the badass bodyguard of Kaiba. And she ABSOLUTELY HATES them both. Too bad they're both basically living with her... Jounouchi/OC, Kaiba/OC
1. Chapter 1

Too Much Work

By: Storychan

Rating: T for violence, language, depression, teen moms, and the assassin protagonist

Fandom: Yu Gi Oh

Plot: 3 years ago, Himeko was the devoted wife of Jounouchi. Now, she's the badass bodyguard of Kaiba. And she ABSOLUTELY HATES them both. Too bad they're basically living with her….

Warning: slight futurefic/AU, Jounouchi/OC, slight Kaiba/OC, teen pregnancy, many mentions of murder, frequent violence, Jerk! Kaiba, Deadbeat! Jounouchi, depressing monologues, mercenaries, general bitterness, dark subject matter, potential female-on-male abuse

Authors'Notes: For y'all that only know his 4kids dub name, Jounouchi = Joey. Also, I don't own Yu Gi Oh and this is just for kicks. Also, in spite of the above warnings, this is basically a _tsundere_-heavy romantic comedy fic, with some dark themes thrown in. No flames please! R & R!

Chapter 1

19-year-old Himeko was up in the middle of the night, and for once it wasn't because of her 3-year-old daughter Takane's crying, or her jerk boss Kaiba calling her to be his hired blade so he could safely walk through the slums to a ridiculously late red-eye he needed to take for his business.

Himeko was up because she was hungry.

"There's no food in this house," Himeko grumbled, "Argh! Why did Takane have to take after that dumbass Jounouchi as far as how much she eats? Even being the bodyguard of a big time CEO like stupid Kaiba barely keeps me able to get enough food for that girl."

Admittedly, keeping food on the table had gotten much easier once Himeko had graduated high school (valedictorian, in spite of having a toddler to raise by herself) and been able to work full-time at KaibaCorp, keeping a hawkish eye on Seto Kaiba so some rival didn't try to off him, "the competition".

Being the insufferable leader of a gaming company that used to have much more warlike interests didn't make Kaiba less of a target, either. The man had zero friends, but kept making more enemies.

_Not that he COULDN'T have friends, _ Himeko thought. _Back when I was 16, busy getting myself over my head eloping with Jounouchi and having his baby, and still hung out with him and his friends, I remember Yugi-kun kept trying to win Kaiba over with "the power of friendship"…._

_THAT worked out, Not._

_Now I'm broken up with Jounouchi, a single mom, an overworked sword-slinging mercenary, and…..damn, pretty much the closest thing that asshole Kaiba has to a friend._

_Not that I'm friendly to that jackwagon._

It was actually pretty funny, when Himeko thought about it. She was the only one at KaibaCorp that made no pretense of the fact that she hated Kaiba, and that if someone offered her more money to kill Kaiba then Kaiba gave her to protect him, she'd take the offer and assassinate him in a heartbeat.

Which was cold, and ruthless, and scary, and selfish.

Just like Kaiba. They were quite the pair.

Himeko guessed she knew him pretty well, since her job basically was following him around for several hours a day just in case somebody tried to attack him. And since she lived in the corporate housing Kaiba had given her, he seemed to feel he had the right to call her in the middle of the night and then show up in a limo in front of her house, demanding she guard him while he was someplace he had to be.

She was honestly pretty muich at Kaiba's beck and call. And nothing pissed her off more.

She remembered how the whole bizarre arrangement had started.

_It was a few months before Himeko's 19__th__ birthday. Graduation was weeks away, but she wasn't studying. She was at the Red House, a popular gathering place for mercenaries and assassins like herself, staring at a bulletin board of potential jobs._

_A request to assassinate the mayor. Sweet payday, but too risky._

_A plea by the curator of a museum to guard his exhibit while it was being shipped out of town. That wouldn't work, either- she'd have to travel with the truck the exhibit was on until it reached its destination. That would mean leaving Takane home alone. She only did in-city jobs._

_An offer from a poor dropout girl needing a 24 hour guard from a stalker. She sympathized, but the job just didn't pay enough._

_And Himeko needed a job with good pay right now, or she and Takane wouldn't eat tonight._

_Pathetic thoughts crept into her head._

…_What if I asked Jounouchi for a loan?_

_Right after I make a big fuss of telling that idiot I don't want his help, because any child support he could provide is contingent upon whether or not he can win a children's card game? Yeah, right….._

_Jounouchi's the one who mooches off ME for food, spends hours lazily watching my TV and playing card games with those joker friends of his, Honda and Otogi, under the pretense of "spending time with Takane"…not that Takane doesn't normally join their games, too. Or that Jounouchi doesn't love Takane._

_He's just a dumbass who's lazy and eats more than a freaking bear…who I used to be in love with._

_That's probably why I still let him eat my food, borrow my books so he MIGHT not flunk out of school,and hang out at my house so much that he basically lives there._

_Because I love Jounouchi, even though we're just friends now, per my own request._

_And because it makes Takane happy._

_As those thoughts rolled through her head, Kaiba appeared. She hadn't seen him in 3 years,since she'd broke up with Jounouchi and thus stopped going to his duels._

_Jounouchi had never liked Kaiba, so neither had she._

_Kaiba was a smug, selfish egomaniac. She couldn't stand him, and he knew it. But he'd always seemed to respect her a little more than Jounouchi, because of her cynicism and intelligence that none of her friends had. And because she called him out on his crap every time he was a jerk to Jounouchi, which was often._

_They were still basically enemies, though. She thought he was a too-big-for-his-britches megalomaniac. He thought she was a lovesick moron for wasting her intelligence and talent on impressing Jounouchi, who he couldn't stand._

_Yet here he was._

"_What are YOU doing here?" she'd barked, eyeing him with suspicious contempt._

"_Looking to get a job done, you idiot," Kaiba had smirked. "If it's not too much work."_

"_What's the job?" she'd asked, her need for cash outweighing her pride. Face flushing, she glared at him._

"_What, you'd take it?" Kaiba smirked, amused. "Thought you couldn't stand me, Himeko."_

"_I can't." she fumed, then decided on a rare tactic-honesty. "I'm trying to support my daughter"._

_Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "What, that loser Jounouchi's brat?"_

"_Call her a brat one more time and you won't make it back to your fancy office alive, Kaiba."_

_Smirking but backing up, Kaiba nodded. "I'm not stupid enough to argue with a woman with a dagger in her hand."_

_Looking down, Himeko realized she'd pointed the dagger she used for her work at him without even realizing it._

_Realizing death threats weren't going to help her case, she lowered it._

"_You'll do anything to support the child you love, won't you?" Kaiba asked. "I suppose I can u dertsand that." She realized he was referring to the child HE loved, his brother Mokuba._

_When she was still with Jounouchi, she and Mokuba would occasionally hang out, but Kaiba didn't even talk to her except to tell her and Jounouchi and Yugi to stay away from his little brother._

_Jerk._

_But Himeko was desperate. _

"_I heard you can't even pay your rent, can you?" asked Kaiba, seeming sadistically pleased by the fact. _

"_What's it to you?" Himeko barked._

"_Well, if you'll be my bodyguard, that could change."_

"_Your….bodyguard?" Himeko repeated, bewildered. "Are you on crack?"_

"_I know you don't want to work with me, Himeko-san," Kaiba growled. "Frankly, I don't want to work with you either. But I hear you're the best guard in Domino City. And I need the best. Take it or leave it."_

_Himeko couldn't leave it, or Takane would suffer for it. How could she turn down an offer to give her child a better life…even if it came from a man she couldn't stand?_

_So in the end, she took him up on the offer. She got a very nice paycheck and rent-free corporate housing. And she and Takane were finally able to live comfortably, and it didn't matter how much Jounouchi ate when he came over for dinner every weekend to see Takane, because she could afford it._

_Not that she stopped yelling at Jounouchi for taking all her food, of course._

"_I'll work for you," she told Kaiba. "But I won't be nice to you."_

"_I'm not paying you to be nice," Kaiba had grinned, "I'm paying you to glare and wave that dagger around, which is way more suitable to a bitchy girl like you anyway. I don't intend to be nice to you either. In fact, it's actually refreshing to have an employee openly hate my guts instead of brown-nosing. And don't worry…..I hate your guts, too."_

Himeko was stunned out of that depressing memory when she heard a knock at her door.

She was in her PJs, so she yelled, "I'm not answering the door. Go away, whoever you are!"

The knocking persisted.

"I said get lost!: she called. "It's like, midnight!"

The knocker kept knocking.

"Alright!" cried Himeko, pulling her robe tighter around herself as she opened the door, screaming, "What the hell do you want?"

And looked to see Kaiba and Mokuba standing on her doorstep with a plethora of suitcases, the former raising an eyebrow at the sight of Himeko in a robe and nightgown instead of her usual black leather uniform.

Himeko blushed, angry and embarrassed. _The hell is he looking at?_

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Remember the guy who tried to set my briefcase on fire?"

"Yeah, I kicked him out of your office and sent him packing. Why?"

"He came back…and he burned my entire corporate offices down."

Himeko gasped. Turning her head, she could see a pillar of smoke in the distance coming from where KaibaCorp HQ used to be.

"I lived in the KaibaCorp building," Kaiba explained. "So did Mokuba. Because we owned it, after since we also own your house, we've decided to live here with you until HQ can be rebuilt."

"WHAAAAAAAT?"

Kaiba, smirking, strode past her into her living room, and flopped down on her couch. "I'll sleep here," he announced. "I'm not THAT high-maitenance."

"B-but…." Himeko began angrily, feeling she'd already lost control of the situation.

Then Takane, awakened by the commotion, came down the stairs.

"Mommy, what's Kaiba doin' here?" she asked, pouting and pointing at him. "Daddy says Kaiba a poopyhead."

"He is," muttered Himeko through gritted teeth.

"If you won't let me live with you," Kaiba grinned, clearly enjoying Himeko's discomfort, "I couid always just evict you, and repossess the place. Because _I own it_. Don't forget that your daughters' wellbeing depends on how nice I feel like being."

Defeated but still glaring defiantly, Himeko accepted that her only choice was to let Kaiba move in with her. Mokuba would have to share a room with Takane, since she didn't have a guest room. But that was nothing compared to the thought of the 24/7 presence of Seto Kaiba in her life!

"This is….just not fair," she sighed, ignoring Kaiba's gloating grin as she ran to fetch pillows for her despicable new house guests.


	2. Chapter 2

Too Much Work, Chapter 2

By: Storychan

Author's Note: Still don't own Yu Gi Oh, Kaiba, or Jounouchi (tho in Jounouchi's case I WISH I did – I'm a fangirl. S-shut up.) Jounouchi features pretty strongly in this chapter, but at the end Kaiba seems to be nicer to Himeko as well? I hope you like it R&R!

Warnings for This Chapter: threats of suicide, almost-drownings, mentions of the Japanese Mafia, slight Mokuba/Takane if you choose to interpret it that way….(and based on Rule 34, someone out there will…), discussion of child endangerment, language

Anyway, here's the new chapter:

Jounouchi, smiling, strode into Himeko's house without knocking, as was his (annoying) habit that Himeko allowed because he was there to visit Takane.

"Himeko-chan," he called, "I don't have anything to eat at my house, so I thought I'd come eat with you and Takane! Go make me some-"

Jououchi stopped mid-sentence, shocked speechless, when he saw his archnemesis, Seto Kaiba, reclining like a lazy cat on Himeko's living room couch.

"WHAT THE HELL?" he cried. "HIMEKO! What's going on?"

_There's no way she's DATING this punk, _Jounouchi thought. _She hates him as much as I do! What, did he freaking break in or something?_

"HIMEKO!" he called again, and Himeko emerged from the kitchen, flushing and looking daggers at Kaiba, who had apparently made himself at home.

"What's HE doing here?" Jounouchi asked, pointing at Kaiba and flushing with narrowed eyes.

"Argh, this is _embarrassing_," pouted Himeko. "I don't like this any better than you do, alright, Jounouchi-kun?"

"What actually is 'this', Himeko?" asked Jounouchi. "What the frigg is going on?"

Takane bounded down the stairs, awoken from her nap by Jounouchi's yelling, at just that moment.

"Daddy!" she cried happily, and added, "Kaiba-poopyhead and Mokuba-tama are LIVING with Mommy now!"

"WHAAAAAAT?" cried Jounouchi, looking like he was about to smack Kaiba.

HImeko grabbed Jounouchi's arm to hold him back, barking, "Chill! You're freaking Takane out!"

Takane began to cry.

Jounouchi's expression immediately softened, and he looked at Takane remorsely, muttering to her in a soothing tone, "Wha, I'm sorry, Takane-chan. I'm sorry….I didn't mean to scare you with my yelling…..Come here, sweetheart…"

Himeko blushed. Even if Jounouchi was a loudmouthed, ill-tempered dumbass, he was truly good with kids, and had always had a soft spot for them. She supposed it had to do with his relationship with his kid sister, Shizuka. He'd always been good to Takane, no matter what happened between Himeko and himself.

She relaxed her grip on his hand, allowing him to scoop up Takane in his free arm. Takane was already smiling again…..Jounouchi just had that effect.

"About the jerkface on my couch living here," Himeko said, flushing and making a point to not look at Kaiba, "He's only staying here because some crazy arsonist punk burned his building down."

Jounouchi's eyes widened. "What? _Arson?_ You serious, Princess?"

"Princess" was the nickname Jounouchi had given Himeko when they were together, because "Himeko" meant "princess girl".

"D-don't call me that," Himeko muttered. "And yeah – there's no other circumstance where I WOULD let Kaiba in my house."

Jounouchi nodded, glaring at Kaiba. "Yeah, I get that…Princess."

Now it was Himeko's turn to glare.

"Can I talk to you, Princess….in private?" Jounouchi asked.

"Fine," shrugged Himeko. "Let's go in the kitchen."

Once they were in the kitchen, Jounouchi surprised Himeko by grabbing her hand and dragging her towards him so that they were standing eye to eye.

"Look at me, Princess," he said with a sad look on his face.

"My name is HIMEKO," Himeko replied coldly…..but she could tell her face was heating up. Argh!

"Fine, look at me, Himeko," shrugged Jounouchi, annoyed.

"Listen, Himeko….." he began. "Can you look me in the eye and tell me you're OK with living with Kaiba, of all people?"

"I don't have a choice," Himeko replied, staring into Jounouchi's big blue eyes. Takane had inherited those eyes…their little girl had always resembled Jounouchi much more than herself.

Jounouchi turned away, knocking some papers off the kitchen counter because he moved so sharply.

"Crap…..I'll pick those up….." he offered, bending down to get them.

"No, don't –" Himeko began, but it was too late.

Jounouchi stared at a letter from a _yakuza _boss in Tokyo that Himeko had met on a job:

**Himeko-san,**

**I've heard you're considering moving to Tokyo with your daughter. If you do, I hope you will consider working for me. I can't pay as much as that Kaiba guy, but if you're dead-set on leaving Domino City and your cushy job as his bodyguard behind, then you know it's either me or ypur kid starves.**

**Think carefully, sweetheart.**

**-Boss Yamato**

"What the….hell?" Jounouchi began, eyes widening with shock. "HIMEKO! You were thinking about skipping town with Takane? A-and you weren't going to….even tell me?"

"Mommy didn't want you to know!" cried Takane, bursting in. "Mommy said she might leave da city _to get away from you!"_

"What?" cried Jounouchi. "Himeko! Tell Takane-chan that isn't true, right now!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" yelled Himeko in response. "Look, now that I'm done with school, I really don't see you that much anymore. It's not like you'll miss me that much….."

"So it's…..true?" said Jounouchi, stunned. "You were considering _quitting a well paying job with Kaiba, skipping town, and working for a goddam Tokyo MOB BOSS…._just so you wouldn't have to deal with ME? What about Takane-chan? I told you I wanted to be a part of her life!"

"Takane-chan will get over it," said Himeko. "It's not like you see her that much as it is anyway! And you ditched me when she was _six months old_, Jounouchi, so do NOT act like you're some kind of martyr!"

"How many times do I gotta say I'm sorry, Himeko-chan?" Jounouchi cried. "I was a kid! I was stupid, OK? But I'm TRYING to make up for it now, and there's no way I'm letting you move to TOKYO and letting you take the chance of me redeeming myself in the eyes of Takane-chan away from me! Besides…I TRIED to get back together with you, you know. But _you _refused _me_."

"Because I can't trust you!" Himeko cried. "No matter how you look at it, _you ditched your wife and child, _Jounouchi. And, look, I'll forgive you. But I am NOT going to forget!"

The two abruptly fell silent as they heard the back door slam, and realized, to their, horror, that Takane had run out into the street.

The argument was dropped then and there, and their parental instincts took over as they tore after Takane, fearful for her safety.

Takane stopped running at the edge of the pier, and stared out at the cool blue water several feet below.

"Takane!" Himeko cried.

"Sweetie, are you alright?" called Jounouchi, full of concern for his daughter.

"Mommy," sniffled Takane, crying again. "If you don't promise to stay with Daddy forever and ever, I'm going to jump in!"

"Takane, you'll drown!" cried Himeko, eyes wide with shock and terror for her child's safety. "Get back here right now!"

"Come on, Takane-chan!" pleaded Jounouchi. Worriedly, he muttered to Himeko, "That water's crazy shallow, Princess. Even if she jumps, she probably won't drown, right? The current's not that strong, so….she could swim for it, right?" He was pleading with Himeko, hoping she'd say their child would be safe if they couldn't stop her in time.

"Promise, Mommy!" Takane persisted. "Or I really will!"

"She…Takane-san can't swim, Jounouchi," said Himeko, shaking.

"You never taught her to swim?" repeated Jounouchi, incredulous. "Why the hell not?"

"I can't swim either, OK?" Himeko confessed. "And you weren't there to teach her." Turning back to Takane, she pleaded again, "Sweetie, don't do this! Come back here where it's safe!"

Takane looked back at her mother and father for a moment, and the sharp movement caused her to wobble on the edge of the dock….She was going to fall in!

"TAKANE!" cried Himeko, and without thinking, reached out to grab her child…and they both tumbled into the waves.

"PRINCESS!" cried Jounouchi. "TAKANE! Aww god no…"

Tearing off his shirt, he dove into the water to rescue them.

Himeko couldn't breathe, the water was far above her head and she was falling fast….She tried to breach the surface, but it was no use as water filled her lungs…

Suddenly, warm, strong arms wrapped around her, and she felt herself losing consciousness as Jounouchi pulled her back to the shore…

Kaiba and Mokuba showed up at that moment, having seen Takane run out of the house and followed them.

"Is Himeko even breathing?" Kaiba asked.

"Seto, she's not!" cried Mokuba.

"No, no, no, no….." cried Jounouchi. "Dammit, I'm not losing you again, Princess….Breathe, Himeko, please breathe….."

But she didn't.

Jounouchi leaned over her unresponsive body, and tried to recitate her with his mouth, trying to breathe back into her the air she'd lost in the waves.

"Come on, Himeko-chan, wake up….." he begged, trying it again.

Himeko's eyes fluttered open while Jounouchi's mouth was still on hers, and she blushed. Coughing and sputtering, she smacked Jounouchi in the face as she took a shaky breathe.

"Don't…don't get any…any weird ideas on me, dumbass," she panted.

Jounouchi flushed. "I – I wasn't….."

"Never mind that," Himeko snapped. "Takane-chan, is she….."

"I got her first," grinned Jounouchi tiredly. "She's safe." He pointed a short distance away, where Takane was sitting, unharmed but shivering, Kaiba's longcoat wrapped around her. Kaiba was sitting next to her, staring at Himeko as if upset that she was so surprised.

"Thank you, Jounouchi…" panted Himeko, still a little short of breath. "Thank you, so much….."

"It's nothing," Jounouchi smiled. "But how about you thank me by staying in Domino City?"

Himeko's expression immediately darkened. "You're unbelievable," she growled. "You're going to discuss that right now?"

"Well, it's pretty damn important, Himeko-chan!" said Jounouchi defensively.

"Get out of my way," Himeko barked. He didn't move.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY," she repeated, and shoved past him to get to Takane. She hugged her daughter, trying to soothe her shivers, muttering to her in a motherly tone. "I love you, baby….." she muttered, near tears. "Don't scare me like that, baby. Don't ever scare Mommy like that again…"

She scooped Takane into her arms, and said, "Let's go home."

She started walking in the direction of the house, Kaiba and Mokuba trailing after her.

"Princess, wait!" Jounouchi called after her. "Princess!"

Himeko walked faster, ignoring him, and trying desperately to ignore the fact that they had technically just kissed for the first time in three years.

Once she put Takane to bed, Himeko immediately plopped down on the couch and began playing on her laptop, trying to distract herself from the thought of it.

Kaiba strolled over to her. "Get up," he ordered.

"Excuse me?" replied Himeko, glaring.

"I told you," said Kaiba, rolling his eyes. "I'm going to be sleeping on the couch from now on. Go play computer games in your own room."

"Fine," Himeko grumbled, and got up.

Kaiba sat down on the couch, and opened his own laptop, beginning to read his business email.

"You're not going to sleep?" Himeko asked.

"No," Kaiba replied shortly.

"Then why the hell did you make me get up, saying that was your sleeping space?"

"I felt like it," replied Kaiba, glaring right back at Himeko.

"Whatever," Himeko grumbled, "I'm going to my room."

On the way there, she stopped in the doorway of Takane's bedroom. Takane was fast asleep, wrapped in the warm, protective embrace of Mokuba.

_Awww, he's like a protective big brother, _Himeko thought with a small smile. _I wonder if he gets that from Kaiba-san?_

"They look so cute when they're sleeping," agreed Kaiba, appearing right behind Himeko. On reflex, her hand flew to her dagger.

"Don't scare me like that!" she said, panting. "I almost stabbed you!"

Himeko then sailed past him into her own room and slammed the door in Kaiba's face.

"Geez," said Kaiba through the door, "I was _trying _to be nice."

"Go away," Himeko replied muffedly.

"No," replied Kaiba, and opened the door to find Himeko staring at a photograph of Jounouchi.

He smirked. "You're still into that loser, aren't you?" he grinned.

"Shut up and get out of my room!" Himeko shouted.

"Quit shouting," Kaiba snapped. "You'll wake up Takane and Mokuba."

He sat down next to her.

"You don't think you can trust him," Kaiba intuited. "You think nobody can help you but yourself, and you get pissed when somebody tries. You don't even believe you can be happy anymore. That the closest you can get to happiness is working yourself to the bone trying to bring happiness and a good life to the child you love. But in the process, you push anyone but yourself who loves that child away."

Himeko's eyes widened. "H-how…..how the hell did you know all that?" she whispered.

"Because I'm the same way," Kaiba confessed. "_I _work _myself _to the bone for the child _I _love…..Mokuba."

"You…get it," Himeko realized, turning to look at Kaiba.

"Well, based on what I've said…because I understand what you're going through…are you going to trust me more with Takane-san, and let me help you more than that loser Jounouchi?" Kaiba asked.

"No," Himeko responded.

To her consternation and surprise, Kaiba laughed in her face, and left the room, closing the door behind him.

"The hell are you laughing at, Kaiba?" Himeko called after him.

"Nothing," Kaiba chuckled. "Just your total inability to choose the right guy….."


	3. Chapter 3

Too Much Work, Chapter 3

By: Storychan

Author's Notes: Sorry if last chapter got a little…..dark. In Chapter 3 we're finally going to get into more of the tsundere romantic comedy that this fic is supposed to be about (honest). On the menu this time we having the Kaiba brothers going grocery shopping, Takane making messes, Himeko writing letters she will never send, and Jounouchi randomly showing up at the most inopportune time XD

Also, Kaiba insults Himeko – but that's normal. LOL.

Really no big warnings this time, except maybe for language?

Without further ado, here's the story:

Dear Jounouchi….

Just typing the words into her word processor made Himeko flush and want to turn away. _Why did that idiot have to be so heroic? _She wondered. He'd saved her and Takane the other day. And technically kissed her….

She could still remember it. Waking up, gasping for breath, soaked, and the first thing she saw was the concerned blue eyes of a very wet Jounouchi as he put his mouth on hers to save her life.

He'd saved her life, and what had she done? Smacked him and told him she was still considering skipping town with their daughter.

It had been a lie . She'd decided a while ago that moving to Tokyo just to run away from her past with Jounouchi was stupid. Not to mention that if she left, she'd lose the job with Kaiba that gave her and Takane food on the table and a roof over their heads.

It irked her to think about Kaiba now SHARING that roof with them. _Though he was much less of an asshat last night than usual, _she considered. _God knows why._

She knew it probably wouldn't last.

So she was curled up on the sofa hoping Kaiba wouldn't come in, typing an email to Jounouchi that she just knew she was going to delete before hitting 'send'. She needed to apologize to him, but she was too proud.

She hadn't wanted him to find the letter from Boss Yamato, because she knew he'd immediately assume Himeko had accepted the offer. Jounouchi had yelled at her for even considering it, accusing her of being a shoddy mother. It made her blood boil –especially coming from him, who was just fine with letting her raise their daughter by herself.

_Hypocrite, _Himeko thought. She had decided weeks ago to stay in Domino City, but when Jounouchi had asked her to stay, after saving her and Takane's lives, she hadn't told him that. She'd just gotten pissed.

And now Jounouchi still didn't know that Himeko had decided to stay in town.

Dear Jounouchi.

I'm staying. Because Takane likes being around you, and likes being in this house.

Until recently, Himeko had liked being in the house, too. It was way fancier than the dirty, claustrophobic apartment downtown she'd been barely able to rent before Kaiba had gotten her a job. In fact, it was the nicest place she'd ever lived.

Until recently, the only bad thing about it was the KaibaCorp logos emblazoned on stuff everywhere, because that egocentric jerk Kaiba just had to remind everyone that the house was part of KaibaCorp's corporate housing plan, and IT WAS AWESOME, SEE? LOOK AT HOW AWESOME KAIBA IS!

Now, in addition to seeing Kaiba's logo around her house, Himeko was forced to see Kaiba himself. She could feel a headache coming.

Dear Jounouchi.

I'm staying. Because Takane likes being around you, and likes being in this house.

And I wanted to tell you that…..I'm sorry.

Himeko blushed as she wrote this for reasons she didn't quite understand. Then, as Kaiba swaggered into the room, she slammed the lid of her laptop down so hard that it fell out of her hands.

"Be more careful, Himeko-san," chided Kaiba, bending to pick up the fallen computer.

"Stop!" Himeko cried shrilly. "I-I-I'll get it, alright?" She was NOT going to let Kaiba see her pleading for that stupid Jounouchi's forgiveness!

He'd surely mock her for it.

As she picked up the computer, she saw Kaiba raise an annoyed eyebrow. "I was trying to be nice for a change…." he mumbled. "Well, fine. I'll just get down to business. I want lobster."

"You want….what?" repeated Himeko, sitting up and crossing her long arms over her chest. She had a feeling her headache was about to get worse.

"Lobster," Kaiba repeated. "With butter. For dinner tonight."

"Whoah, wait!" protested Himeko. "I never agreed to _cook_ for you!"

"Well, I can't cook," Kaiba sighed. "And as the KaibaCorp cafeteria is now a pile of ashy rubble…."

"Fine," agreed Himeko reluctantly. "Go get in the car."

"Why?"

"Because WE are going to the grocery store," Himeko smirked, standing up.

"Why can't you just go yourself?" Kaiba asked, crossing his arms.

"Because," Himeko grinned. "You and Moku-kun need to start earning your keep."

"Earning my….?" Kaiba started to repeat. Narrowing his eyes, he said, "You seem to forget I legally own the rights to this house."

"But you in NO way legally have the right to lobster," Himeko countered. "Listen, rich boy, if you want fancy-pants meals,_ you're_ going to have to buy them."

Kaiba stared at her for a moment or two.

"Oh, come on," she sighed. "You know if I go by myself, you'll just bitch that I didn't buy the right thing."

"I can't leave Mokuba alone in the house with just your three-year-old," Kaiba argued.

"Fine," said Himeko. "Mokuba-kun and Takane-chan can come with us."

"Wait, what are –"

"MOKUBA! TAKANE! GROCERY SHOPPING TIME!" hollered Himeko to upstairs.

Mokuba and Takane ran down the stairs in a burst of childish energy.

"We're going grocery shopping, Seto – oniisama?" asked Mokuba, seemingly intrigued at the idea.

Kaiba sighed, then looked from Himeko's triumphant face to his brother's expectant one.

"Yes…."

Once Himeko, Kaiba, Mokuba, and Takane entered the grocery store, Himeko's headache only got worse.

Kaiba stared at a "Buy One XL Carton of Eggs, Get One Free" sign. "Wait….." he said. "Who in the world needs that many eggs? And why is it so crowded?"

Himeko chuckled. "Supermarkets are always crowded, Kaiba-san."

"And what are those little things that keep shooting out _paper_?" Kaiba continued to complain, clearly revolted.

"They're coupon dispensers, stupid," Himeko explained. "You know what coupons are, right?"

"Of course I do," snapped Kaiba. "I've just never needed to _use _one."

"Yeah, I figured," Himeko muttered, grabbing a cart. "You lucky bastard."

"Push," she ordered.

"What?" replied a confused Kaiba.

"The cart," Himeko grumbled. "Push the damn cart so I can focus on finding your precious _lobster_."

Flushing with embarrassment, Kaiba began pushing the cart down the aisle, following Himeko. _This is BENEATH me, _he thought to himself. _I feel like a housewife._

His eyes flicked to Mokuba, then widened. Mokuba was smiling happily at Takane, who was trying rather hysterically to reach an apple at the top of a pile in a produce bin.

"Nya, Takane-chan, you can't reach!" Mokuba teased.

"I got it," protested Takane. She reached out for the prized apple, and as she pulled it out of the pile, like a Jenga game, the whole pile of apples fell down and rolled onto the supermarket floor, spilling everywhere.

"OK, I _don't _got it…." Takane admitted.

"Wah…Takane-chan!" cried Himeko, looking up from her shopping list. "What did you _do? _Sweetheart, come on, we'd better clean this up before the manager sees it…."

She kneeled down and began to pick up the fallen apples. Mokuba kneeled down to help her.

"It's my fault, Himeko-oneesan_," _he said. "I…..I told Takane to pick that apple up, even though I knew it was too high!"

"It's OK," Himeko assured Mokuba, surprised that the child brother of Kaiba had called her "Oneesan". Sister.

She was even more surprised that she liked it, the same way she liked it to hear Takane's young voice call her Mommy.

Himeko loved kids, and loved that this kid was starting to like her. Mokuba was nothing like his smug, infuriating older brother. He was just a kid. And he probably enjoyed having a mother figure, for a change. Himeko knew all Mokuba usually had was the cold, less-than-nurturing "oniisan" that was Kaiba.

Himeko had actually played a card game or two with Mokuba while she was guarding Kaiba in his office one day. The kid seemed starved for attention.

Watching Himeko gaze maternally at his little brother, Kaiba felt a twinge of pain in his chest. He realized it was jealousy. Himeko was a natural with children.

Kaiba, however, tried to make Mokuba happy, with things like Kaibaland and letting him enforce the rules at Battle City, but deep down he had no idea how to raise a child, especially with so much WORK to do. He couldn't very well keep his business running and focus 100% on Mokuba at the same time…

_I can't let Himeko show me up when it comes to my own brother, _Kaiba decided, and kneeled to pick up apples as well. He noticed that surprised Himeko.

"There's a few more apples over there, Mokuba," he said, pointing to a corner and ignoring Himeko's pleasantly surprised face.

Ignoring the way Himeko laughed to see he, Seto Kaiba, famous CEO, titan, card champion, on his knees in a grimy supermarket picking up apples, just like some silly commoner, for the love of his brother.

When the apples were all cleaned up, the two thorny teens and two smiling kids walked over to the seafood department to get Kaiba's lobster.

When they approached the lobster tank, Kaiba blanched.

"We have to _pick up _the lobster while….while it's _alive_?" he asked. He didn't want to get his hands dirty.

"Did you assume that lobsters sprang, fully-cooked and garnished with lemon, into Creation for you to enjoy?" asked Himeko, incredulous. "Yes, Kaiba, it's alive."

"When you buy salmon, the salmon's already dead," Kaiba protested. "When you buy duck, the duck's already dead…."

"Well, sorry to disappoint you," sighed Himeko sarcastically. "But the lobsters you have to kill. It's fun, actually." _Especially when I pretend the lobster is your stinking face. _"Go pick up your stupid lobster, ya baby."

"_YOU _pick it up," insisted Kaiba.

"Nuh-uh," said Himeko, shaking her head. "The lobster was your idea! Why are you afraid of a lobster?"

"Why are you afraid of staying in Domino City with Jounouchi?" Kaiba snapped back.

It was too much, even for him, and he knew it the instant he said it. His jealousy of Mokuba's affection for her, combined with the humiliation of her watching him get on his knees to clean up Takane's mess, had made him just angry enough to say something cruel that he immediately regretted.

He only felt more like an ass when he saw his brother looking at him, shocked he could say something like that to the woman who had given them a place to sleep and a roof over their heads after the fire.

"I…..I'm NOT afraid," said Himeko, fists clenched and shaking. "I've decided….I'm going to stay in Domino City."

"Ya are, Princess?" said a familiar voice, and a blushing Himeko was horrified to discover Jounouchi, apparently out shopping at the same time, grinning at her from behind a pile of fish.

"You're really staying, Himeko-chan?" asked Jounouchi, strolling over.

"Y-yes," sighed a still-blushing-like-mad Himeko. "I'm staying. For Takane-chan, OK? N-n-not for you!"


	4. Chapter 4

Too Much Work, Chapter 4

By: Storychan

Author's Notes: Wasn't last chapter fun? Kaiba was scared of a lobster LOL! This chapter will be more Jounouchi-centric, though. I'm going to start exploring things like why Jounouchi and Himeko broke up (we did that a LITTLE last time, but now we're digging a LOT deeper), why they got together in the first place, and why Himeko became a mercenary (it's not a common occupation for teenage girls, you know lol). Also we actually have the children's card game that is so essential to Yu Gi Oh finally being played. I can't write duels that well, because I don't play the TCG, so it's more a "spectator" POV with not a lot of detail…..sorry. Also we have flashbacks galore and not a lot of Kaiba –sorry, Kaiba/Himeko fans, he'll get more screen time next chapter, I promise!

Warnings for this chapter: Major spoilers from the "Raising the Dragons" (I think that was the name?) arc, in which Dartz was the main villain and people started losing souls, flashbacks, reckless parenting, Himeko being depressing, break-ups, deadbeat! Past! Jounouchi, doormat!past! Himeko, past! Himeko, a DRAMATIC change in Himeko's personality, badly written duels, and a possible Takane tantrum LOL

I think that's it, so…

Let's get started with the chapter, shall we?:

Once they got home from the grocery store and put the lobster away to cook later, Himeko's headache was so bad that she decided to take a nap in her room. When she woke up half an hour later and strode down the stairs, she found Kaiba with his dirty boots up on her KaibaCorp logo-emblazoned couch.

She'd yell at him for it, but she didn't have the energy. Parenting Takane solo plus dealing with Kaiba plus running at warp speed out of the grocery store before Jounouchi could dispute her claim that she wasn't staying in Domino City for him equaled one tired Himeko, even after her nap. She just wanted to go hug Takane, and then pass out.

"Where is Takane?" Himeko asked.

Kaiba looked up from some important business correspondence he was reading. "She left," he muttered, and returned to his pile of work.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE LEFT?" cried Himeko, wanting to shove said pile of work up that uncaring Kaiba's butt.

"Jounouchi came by and picked her up," Kaiba explained. "Said he was taking her to along to a duel of his."

"You just let him leave with Takane?" asked Himeko accusingly. "No questions asked?"

"Well, in case you forgot, Himeko-san," Kaiba grinned. "He's _her father_."

"In case _you _forgot," replied Himeko. "He's also an idiot." She then grabbed a coat and sped off for the card game arena she knew Jounouchi liked to duel at. The card game arena that, 3 years ago, she swore she'd never set foot in again.

As she walked in, her eyes flicked to the stands, which were empty. The only people in the place besides herself were clustered around the dueling area, where Jounouchi was dueling some middle school kid who, to her disappointment, was winning. Next to Jounouchi, watching intently, were Takane and Jounouchis' friends Yugi, Honda, and Anzu.

"Come on, beat this kid, Jou!" Honda was calling.

Yugi and Anzu cheered him on similiarly.

Himeko found herself feeling nostalgic, and remembered how years ago, in those very stands that now stood empty, she had cheered for-and met for the first time- Jounouchi.

_Jounouchi was sort of famous around Domino City now. He'd been runner-up at that huge tournament that Motou Yugi, the so-called new "King of Games", had won. All of Himeko's friends were focused on Yugi, what a talented duelist he was, a natural. And so cute!_

_But Himeko didn't care about Yugi._

_Her favorite duelist to watch live on the Card Game Channel was Katsuya Jounouchi, the cute blue-eyed guy with the cool smile who had went from the underdog everyone said would lose in the first round, to being the runner up who had almost won it all._

_She heard he was a really nice guy, too – that he had entered the tournament to support his sick sister, Shizuka._

_Of, course, the kindness all her friends wanted to talk about was that of Yugi, who, when Jounouchi eventually lost, had given the prize money he won to Shizuka because he had wanted Jounouchi to be able to help her._

"_I still think Jounouchi is cooler," she'd said._

"_But he lost," all her friends would protest._

_To Himeko, people like Yugi, who always won everything, weren't that impressive. The one who captured her attention was Jounouchi, who'd had to work hard for his success. And who when he lost, had just gone and entered another tournament to try again._

_She admired that determined spirit._

_So when she heard Jounouchi, who she had only seen on TV but never met, was going to be at a tournament in the card game arena near her apartment complex, she knew she had to go._

_She went to sit in the stands and cheer him on. When he won, she screamed with joy. _

_He was SO cool!_

_She figured a big time duelist like him would probably never have time for a shy bookworm like her, even though they went to the same school. Himeko, at the time,was a quiet, polite girl who rarely talked to guys….or anyone. Mostly she hid behind her books. She didn't think she was anything special. Smart maybe, but not worthy of a celebrity almost-champion like HIM._

_So she was surprised, when, giggling like a fangirl, she shyly approached Jounouchi after his duel to get his autograph, and found him staring sadly into his space as if he himself felt as worthless as she did._

"_Nyeh?" he blinked when he saw her standing there, blushing. "Umm, can I help you? Yugi-kun is over there if that's who you're looking for. EVERYONE is looking for Yugi. Damn…..even when I win, everyone still thinks he's better than me. Guess it makes sense. He's the 'King'. When he showed up to support me, the fangirls mobbed him. I guess you're one of 'em, huh?"_

"_I….." Himeko stammered. __**Her idol had spoken to her! Squee! **__Yet per the usual, she was tongue-tied. __**Come on, Himeko! **__She told herself, and said, "I'm….not looking for Yugi."_

"_No?" asked Jounouchi, raising an eyebrow. "Just about every girl only showed up because they heard Yugi would be here…" _

_So that was what he was so sad about. His friend, Yugi, was the super-famous champion, the "King of Games". He was all the girls talked about. Himeko realized that she was probably the only person here who considered Jounouchi the main attraction._

"_I came her for you, Jounouchi-sama." Himeko said at last._

_Jounouchi blushed, surprised. He didn't really have any fans….or he'd thought he didn't. He wasn't the King, after all. He hadn't come in first. And if you weren't first, nobody cared about you. _

_But the girl standing in front of him DID care._

_He looked at her- she was wearing a Domino High uniform like Anzu wore. They went to the same school, then. But he hadn't seen her around before – if he had, he would have remembered. She was beautiful, with snow white skin and gorgeous raven hair. She also had a look about her like she didn't know how beautiful she was._

_Well, she was the only fangirl he had. So he should probably show her…_

"_What's your name?" he asked._

"_Himeko," she muttered softly, blushing._

"_What? Didn't catch that. Speak up," said Jounouchi, walking closer to her to hear her soft voice._

"_Himeko," she repeated, blushing._

"_What a pretty name!" Jounouchi had grinned. "It means 'princess girl', don't it? I think I'm gonna call you Princess."_

"_O-OK," Himeko stammered, still surprised that someone so cool would talk to her._

"_Hey Princess?" Jounouchi grinned._

"_Y-y-yes?"_

"_Wanna go out some time?"_

And so had begun a whirlwind romance that consisted of a lot of her watching Jounouchi from the very stands she stared bitterly at now.

"Takane!" she called. "Time to go home!"

Jounouchi turned away from the handful of cards in his hand. He'd been looking for a monster to summon to beat that kid's Luster Dragon, which had destroyed every monster Jounouchi had had on the field. He'd been trying to concentrate, dammit, this was important!

"Himeko?" he called. "What're _you _doin' here?"

His surprise was understandable. When they'd split up, Himeko had informed him that "player of kid's card games" was not a suitable job to support a child with, and had stopped thinking the game of Duel Monsters was cool. She'd been no fun at all ever since then, 3 years ago. She hadn't been to a single one of his duels since then, either.

He still remembered the day she ended things with him.

_After that day that the very arena where he now stood, when he'd met Himeko, they'd fallen in love fast. It was crazy how instantly they clicked. And Himeko was super-smart, and talented. She was totally going to go places when she graduated, he could tell…whereas he would probably just keep playing second fiddle to Yugi._

_But Himeko told him she thought it was cool that he kept trying. She made him feel better about himself. _

_And so he tried to make her happy, tried to win for her. She was an inspiration for him._

_Within days, he took her to meet Shizuka, who, of course, thought she was amazing, like he did._

_What was most amazing to him was Himeko's devotion. She showed up to every duel, held up signs saying stuff like "JOUNOUCHI IS AWESOME" and making him lunch to eat after he won, helping him with homework he missed when he was out of school at tournaments….she was his biggest supporter._

_Within weeks, he was calling her his "soulmate" – everything was fast for them, they rushed headlong into things, but they were in love, so it didn't matter, right?_

_They'd only been dating two months, when, on impulse, he proposed._

_She'd said yes, of course – they'd eloped the next day._

_He'd been ready to get married – it was his idea. He loved her, he didn't need any more time to figure that out. He knew how special she was. It didn't matter that everybody said it was too fast, and that they were too young. He was ready._

_What he wasn't ready for was Takane. Jounouchi's own father had been an ass. Jounouchi had no role model to teach him how to be a dad- not that he didn't want kids, someday!_

_Just….when they'd graduated, gone to college, been READY for it._

_For chrissakes, Jounouchi was still in high school._

_He was a kid. He panicked._

_So when Yugi visited them six months after Takane was born, saying a freaky group called Doma was using a weird card called the Seal of Oricalcos to steal duelists' souls, and he wanted Jounouchi to leave home and go on an adventure with him to stop the soul-stealing, he'd jumped at the chance for a way out._

"_If you're leaving," Himeko had screamed at him, twisting the ring he'd given her on her finger nervously, "you're not going to come back, are you?"_

"_I'll come back," Jounouchi cried. "But right now, I need a break! I can't deal with this baby thing right now…"_

"_You're talking about YOUR DAUGHTER, Jounouchi!" Himeko had cried. "Why…..why are you leaving us?"_

"_I'll come back in a few months, once the Doma situation has been taken care of," Jounouchi had promised. "I'll do the whole dad thing. Just not right now, dammit."_

"_These Doma freaks are dangerous!" Himeko argued. "What if…what if they take your soul? What if YOU DON'T COME BACK?"_

"_You'll survive," Jounouchi had replied. It was cold of him, the reply of a selfish, scared kid who was too immature to handle the situation. So he left. He walked out that door and abandoned his wife and child to go chase bad guy duelists with Yugi._

_As Himeko had predicted, he lost his soul. He lost to a duelist chick he knew Himeko couldn't stand, Mai._

_He didn't know Himeko had gotten on a bus with Takane to come find him after he'd bailed on her. He didn't know she'd found Yugi, demanded she tell him where he was. He didn't know she'd show up, screaming and crying, to watch his soul leave his body….._

_Eventually, Yugi beat Dartz, the leader of Doma, and Jounouchi had gotten his soul back, but it was too late._

_Himeko was depressed. Gibbering. Curled up in a ball for weeks now, traumatized all to hell. She'd had to watch him die. __**Die. **__The guilt was killing him….first he'd abandoned her and Takane, now she had to watch his soul being ripped from his body by her worst enemy? He'd do anything to atone for what he'd done. But even he couldn't reach Himeko anymore. She just stared off into space, crying all the time. Didn't even care about yelling at him for abandoning her anymore. Didn't care about Takane._

_Himeko had broken down. In the end, they had to commit her._

_Because Jounouchi didn't have a real job, Takane temporarily was put into foster care while Himeko got some help. _

_Jounouchi felt all different kinds of awful. It was all his fault._

_He didn't know that there were psycho bunny boilers in the psych ward he'd sent Himeko to, psychos who hurt Himeko. In the end, Himeko had to toughen up, fast, in order to just survive their abuse._

_When she got out, she took Takane back and told herself she wouldn't rely on or trust Jounouchi anymore._

_She'd handle Takane by herself, because Jounouchi was a useless abandoner who had gone and gotten himself killed. Temporarily. He got better, but still…..the damage was done._

_She'd hated standing there helpless when Mai took his soul. It had given her a nervous breakdown – she could do nothing. Nothing._

_She couldn't stand being helpless._

_So she took up the way of the sword – and she was good at it._

_So good she drew the attention of the Red House, who recruited her as a mercenary._

_It was the only job that paid enough to feed and clothe her kid and pay her rent and her tuition at Domino High._

_Those at Red House taught her stealth, how to slit throats and not get caught. _

_She became a mercenary and assassin._

_She became the tough, loud, badass girl she was today, instead of the shy bookworm she used to be._

_And she told Jounouchi they were over._

That had been 3 years ago. She hadn't seen Jounouchi duel, or hung out with him and Yugi and the gang on their adventures and tournament trips, for 3 years. What was she doing here _now_?

"I'm here to take Takane-chan home," Himeko told him. "Don't mind me."

"I do mind!" Jounouchi protested. "I want her to see me win!"

"You're losing," Himeko reminded. She looked at Jounouchi's life point gauge. He only had 1500. And he had no monsters on the field.

"I play Dark Hole," Jounouchi told his kid opponent, ignoring her. _He had to win, if she was gonna be like that. Damn, she hadn't seen him play in 3 years…There'd be no way she'd ever let him take Takane to the card game arena again if she saw him lose._

His Dark Hole card destroyed the kid's Luster Dragon.

A few turns later, he'd summoned Thousand Dragon, and had the upper hand.

"Thousand Dragon, attack his life points directly!" Jounouchi ordered. The kid only had 2400 life points left when Thousand Dragon attacked, so with that, Jounouchi won.

"Yay! Daddy's awesome! Daddy won!" cried Takane, bringing a smile to Jounouchi's face.

Himeko, however, was staring off into space sadly, apparently lost in thought. Jounouchi wondered if she was remembering the good old days, before things got so messed up.

_And they're only getting more messed up, _Jounouchi thought bitterly. _Now she's living with that jerk Kaiba, and getting letters from mobsters – ok, so she said she's staying but- yesterday Takane tried to DROWN herself._

_The girl needs her dad. And whether Himeko likes it or not, I'm not messing things up with Takane –or with her- this time around._


	5. Chapter 5

Too Much Work, Chapter 5

By: Storychan

Authors' Notes: As of 10:37 PM on August 1, 2012, this fic has 110 views….yet ZERO reviews! T_T I can't make Too Much Work better without your feedback, guys! If you like it? Lemme know! If you hate it? Well, I'd love to know why! Please, R&R!

As promised, we have more Kaiba/Himeko this time. I'm trying to give both sides of this love triangle equal screen time….but that can change! Lemme know, readers….do you prefer Jounouchi/Himeko or Kaiba/Himeko?

Anyhooo, on to Warnings for this chapter:

Thievery, Kaiba actually being nice, implied thuggery and death threats, cheesy mother-daughter traditions, Kaiba trying to learn to cook, Kaiba being manipulative, mentions of arms dealing and Kaiba's tragic past, fluff, mysteries that might not get solved, plot holes, lobster death

Let the chapter begin:

It was way too late for good girls to be out. Luckily, Himeko hadn't been a "good girl" for three whole years. And it wasn't her fault. She was on a job.

A small, white spiral notebook was clutched in her palm. She didn't want to think about what she'd had to do to get it, but she had it now.

Himeko had no idea what was inside the notebook. She just knew it worth a lot to a certain person.

And that said certain person wanted it in their hands. Tonight.

Himeko stood at the top of a fire escape. The hand that wasn't holding the notebook was covered in blood.

It was with that hand that she decided to grab the railing and creep down the rickety fire escape.

Creep, creep, creep. Soon, she reached the bottom and went to turn the corner, but just then, a figure stepped out of the shadows….

"KAIBA IF YOU KEEP SNEAKING UP ON ME LIKE THAT YOU ARE GOING TO GET STABBED ONE OF THESE DAYS!"

Kaiba stepped into the light of a nearby streetlamp with a raised eyebrow. "If you stabbed me, you'd be out of a job."

"What are you doing here?" snapped Himeko.

"I could ask you the same thing," Kaiba smirked. "And what's with the notebook?" he asked, grabbing it out of her hand.

"Give that back!" Himeko demanded.

"Tell me what it is and I will," Kaiba shrugged.

"It's…work," Himeko sighed.

"Work….you mean…..someone hired you to STEAL it?" cried Kaiba.

"Not so loud!" protested Himeko, "but….yes. I need some extra cash, alright?"

"And you, couldn't, I don't know," growled Kaiba sarcastically, "just ask me for a raise instead of committing petty crimes?"

"Would you have given one to me if I'd asked?" asked Himeko, crossing her arms.

"No," Kaiba admitted, chuckling.

_So quit bitching, _thought Himeko, but then grew nervous. "You're not going to…..turn me in, are you?"

"What, to the cops?" asked Kaiba. "Hell no. If you're in jail, you can't work for me."

Himeko rolled her eyes. "Gee, thanks."

"But what makes this notebook so special, anyway?" Kaiba asked.

"I don't know," Himeko admitted. "I didn't read it."

"You're not curious?" Kaiba asked.

"I'm not paid to be," replied Himeko coolly.

Kaiba cracked the notebook open. "Well, I'm going to read i-" Before Kaiba could finish his sentence, his expression changed to one Himeko had never seen on his face before: shock and horror.

"What?" she pressed. "What's in the notebook?"

"This notebook….." Kaiba gasped. "It was my father's."

"Say what?" cried Himeko. "You mean…."

"It's full of corporate secrets of Gozaburo Kaiba," gasped Kaiba, "arms dealer. You're a mercenary, I know you've heard of him. He dealt frequently with the Red House before I changed his company to a toy-and-game-making one."

"I never _worked _for him," protested Himeko. "It was before my time! Not that I'd work for him, anyway."

"You wouldn't?" asked Kaiba, seemingly pleased by the thought.

"I draw the line at working for people who sell to supporters of genocide," replied Himeko. "I'm a thief and a killer, but I'm not a sadist, alright?"

"Good to know…." Kaiba muttered, seemingly distracted.

"Himeko….who is paying you to give this to them?" Kaiba demanded.

Himeko frowned. "My employers pay me for my discretion, as you well know, Kaiba."

"So you're not going to tell me, because otherwise you won't get paid?"

"I'm not going to tell you," replied Himeko, looking away, "because otherwise I _will _get killed."

Kaiba's eyes widened, then narrowed. "You're working for a guy who would _kill a teenage girl _for not being able to complete a job?"

"If you'll just give me the damn notebook back and shut your mouth," glared Himeko, "then I'll be able to complete the job, and it won't be a problem."

"You're working for one of my business rivals, aren't you?" Kaiba realized. "He wants this notebook….to blackmail me with my father's dirty secrets."

"I suppose he might," Himeko admitted. "But what do you want me to do, not deliver it?"

"Himeko," pleaded Kaiba. "If this stuff gets out…..do you what it will do to me? Or, fine, I know you don't care about me. But do you know what it will do to Mokuba? Can't you understand that I'm trying to protect the child who depends on me? I know that you know what that's like."

Himeko realized that she did. If she and Takane were in that situation…..

"I don't have a choice," Himeko sighed. "Either I turn in the notebook, or Takane will have to live life without her mother!"

"That won't happen," Kaiba promised.

"Oh, really?" Himeko smirked sadly. "_You're _going to save me? Please. I could _kill _you before you even knew what happened. And so could the guys who'll come after me if I don't deliver!"

"I know that," Kaiba admitted. "The reason it won't happen is because you have witnesses who would turn them in to the cops if they tried. They're not stupid. They can't attack you around three civilians."

"Three?" repeated Himeko, confused. "You mean….."

"Me, Mokuba, and Takane," Kaiba explained. "You're coming back to the house."

"What?" Himeko protested. "B-"

"Do you know why I came to find you?" interrupted Kaiba. "Today, Takane is three and a half years old."

Himeko stopped, speechless. "How did you know?" she whispered.

She and Takane had a silly little mother-daughter tradition….they celebrated "half-birthdays". They'd always have a nice dinner and a little cake six months after Takane's birthday. And Himeko would always give Takane _half _a present.

Takane would receive the other half on her next actual birthday. It was just a little thing Himeko did to make Takane's life more special. But…..

"I know," explained Kaiba. "Because Takane told me. She was crying, earlier. She thinks you forgot."

"I…"

"You're coming home," Kaiba ordered. "Don't worry, I already picked up a cake, because you're stupid enough to forget that too. Now let's go….we're going to go make Takane a half-birthday lobster dinner. You're welcome."

He grabbed Himeko's hand and began dragging her back towards the house.

"Wait, _we_?" asked Himeko. "You're actually going to help?"

"I'm not a _complete _asshat, Himeko," Kaiba objected, still dragging her.

They approached the front door, and when Kaiba opened it, Takane and Mokuba spilled out, cheering and wearing party hats.

"You're home, Mommy, you're home!" Takane smiled. "Poopyhead says he and you are going to make lobster!"

"We'll go play Duel Monsters in the living room until it's ready!" smiled Mokuba, and the two raced back inside.

As Himeko and Kaiba walked through the door and into the kitchen, Himeko asked, "Do you even know how to cook?"

"No," grinned Kaiba. "But you're going to show me."

"Of _course _I am," replied Himeko sarcastically. _So, in other words, I'm going to be doing all the work._

"Well, first if we have to kill the lobster," Himeko sighed.

"That's more your forte than mine, isn't it?" asked Kaiba.

"You're right," Himeko admitted, and pulled out her dagger, killing the lobster before it could even crawl across the cutting board.

"You smile too much when you do that," Kaiba noticed.

"Scared?" Himeko grinned.

"Never," Kaiba smirked. "So…..now what do we do?"

"You're clueless, aren't you?" Himeko sighed. "We boil it," she explained, handing him a soup tureen. "Make yourself useful and fill this with water."

As Kaiba complied, he pulled a small box out from under his coat and set it on the table.

"What's that?" asked Himeko.

"Half of a video of Takane's idiot father in a big tournament of mine from three years ago," Kaiba told her. "Since you forgot to get her a present, too."

"What, I'm supposed to lie and say it's from me?" asked Himeko, offended.

"No," said Kaiba, "you're supposed to lie and say it's from you and Jounouchi."

"What?"

"That numbskull has never gotten her a present for a single damn holiday," Kaiba argued. "If you think that doesn't upset her, you're wrong. Look, I understand that you think nobody else but you is trustworthy enough to do anything for Takane. I get that. I'm the same way with Mokuba. But the thing is…..Takane has a father. He's alive, and he's someone she cares about. And it's not going to make her happy to think someone she cares about doesn't care about her…..even if you think it's true that Jounouchi doesn't care about her, Himeko."

"Do you really think this is _helping, _Kaiba?" snapped Himeko. "Giving her the illusion that everything is hunky-dory?"

"You're at home with your daughter on her half-birthday, making her a nice dinner and making sure she has a great time," replied Kaiba, throwing the lobster in the now-full pot of water. "Instead of leaving her alone while you traipse through the night stealing things and helping someone commit blackmail. And it's because of me. So don't you _dare _say that I'm no help to you, Himeko!"


	6. Chapter 6

Too Much Work Chapter 6

By: Storychan

**Author's Notes: Seriously, folks. The only review I've gotten was from my IRL friend, and that was because I begged her to. I WANT REVIEWS. **

**If I'm doing something bad with this fic? Please. Tell me all about it. I mean it.**

**Or, if you really like it, definitely tell me that as well!**

**Anyhoo, we're back to Jounouchi/Himeko, mostly, this time around.**

**Warnings for this chapter: Hurt! Himeko, wounds, old-fashioned attitudes, blood, language, Kaiba knowing way too much about everything (and being snide about it, of course)**

In the end, the half-birthday party had been wonderful. Himeko had watched Takane and Mokuba play and eat cake, seen the joy shine in her daughter's eyes, laughed along with them, smiled. It was a reminder of why she put herself through Hell at work.

So Takane could have these sort of moments. So Himeko could protect that shining happiness.

But, of course, in the end, Himeko knew that peace couldn't last.

So it didn't surprise her at all when she stumbled home from another job, late at night, long after everyone else had gone to bed, bleeding. What did surprise her was that Jounouchi was there in her kitchen to see it.

"What…..what are you doing here?" she cried.

"I came to visit Takane," Jounouchi explained. "She said you were out working, so I figured I'd wait for you to come home."

"It's not a good time, Jounouchi," said Himeko, shoving her right hand into her pocket.

"Himeko, come on," Jounouchi protested. "Come here, I wanna talk to you."

"No," Himeko insisted. "Get out."

"I'm not gonna 'get out', Princess," argued Jounouchi. "I've been waiting to talk to you about all that's happened recently. The drowning thing, the Tokyo letter, goddam _Kaiba _moving in here…."

"I don't have time to talk," Himeko snapped. "I'm busy."

"Doing what?" asked Jounouchi.

"Nothing," muttered Himeko, turning away.

"Himeko, wait," pleaded Jounouchi, grasping her hand.

To his shock, Himeko gasped as if hurt. Jounouchi let go of her hand, and his eyes widened with horror as he found warm, sticky blood on the fingers that had touched her.

"Himeko!" he cried. "Your hand….."

Knowing she'd been caught, Himeko slowly raised her hand for Jounouchi to see. A bloody gash ran from her wrist to her elbow, her red blood dripping from it.

"What the hell!" cried Jounouchi. "What happened to you? Were you seriously going to just try an'….an' _hide _that from me?"

"It's none of your business," Himeko tried to snap, but Jounouchi saw she was teary with pain.

"If you're not OK," said Jounouchi softly, staring down at the ground and blushing as he took Himeko's hand in his own again, "It IS my business, Princess. I want you to be OK."

"I never asked you to," said Himeko, and tried to pull away from him.

"Himeko, you _need _my help," insisted Jounouchi. Softly, he told her, "Let me bandage this for you."

Himeko blushed. "The first aid kit's in the corner cabinet," she muttered.

Jounouchi gently tended to her wound, and, as he tied the bandage, looked up at Himeko.

"How….how did ya do this to yourself, Princess?" he asked worriedly.

"Nothing," Himeko replied. "It's not even a big cut, really. You're overreacting."

"Ovvereacting?" Jounouchi repeated. "Himeko, you're _underreacting. _Does it not even faze you that you're hurt? Bleeding?"

"I've hurt a lot worse," said Himeko softly. "In the last three years."

"You mean…" said Jounouchi. "Princess, have you cut yourself worse than this before?"

"I'm a mercenary, Jounouchi," explained Himeko. "My job is picking fights with the shadiest characters imaginable. I've long since accepted that I'm going to get hurt, and I'm just going to have to be OK with that."

"Well, I'm not OK with it," Jounouchi protested.

"What?" asked Himeko. "Jounouchi, you don't get a vote! Don't tell me what to do."

"Don't tell you not to hurt yourself?" asked Jounouchi, incredulous. "What, you want me to _get used _to the idea of you in pain?"

"I have," Himeko sighed.

"You….you _expect _pain, now?" asked Jounouchi. "Himeko, that ain't no way to live."

Himeko's eyes narrowed. "Starving? Being unable to feed my kid, or pay my rent? That's not a way to live, either, Jounouchi, but that's the alternative. I don't see you doing anything about it, either. Look….I'm going to suffer, and get hurt, and be generally unhappy. I'm OK with that, if that's what it takes to care for Takane-chan."

"You expect to be unhappy?" cried Jounouchi. "You're unhappy, Himeko? And you're just OK with it?"

"Yes, I'm unhappy, Jounouchi," said Himeko, near tears. "I'm nineteen years old, and instead of being at college, with my whole life ahead of me, I'm shedding blood and living with my worst enemy in order to have the money to raise a child by myself."

"Are you saying you wish you never had Takane?" Jounouchi asked. "That you never became a mercenary?"

"I will NEVER regret Takane!" Himeko yelled. "How can you even SAY that? Jounouchi, you KNOW –you have to – that those months when I was married to you, when we had Takane, when we were a family – they were the happiest days of my life."

Jounouchi blushed. "Your happiest days….were with me?"

"It doesn't matter," Himeko snapped. "Because they're over now. You went and died on me. Abandoned us. And now I'm doing the job I have to do. I can't quit. I just have to accept that the good old days are over, and move on, alright?"

"It ain't alright, Himeko," said Jounouchi softly. "I need ya to…..to realize that there's still happy days out there! Just don't bury yourself so deep in blood and blades that you forget about it."

"Are you saying you don't want me to be a mercenary?" Himeko asked.

"I don't like that you are one, " Jounouchi admitted. "Tell me something, Himeko….why do you work too much? Why do you work until you're bleeding, and spend more time earning money for Takane than you actually spend being with Takane, in person?"

"What's the alternative?" Himeko snapped. "We need the money."

"Why can't you let me give you money?" Jounouchi asked.

Himeko glared at him, screamed, "You're so stupid!", and ran upstairs, away from him.

"The hell was that for?" muttered Jounouchi.

"Let me tell you," sneered a voice from the couch, and Jounouchi realized that Kaiba had been awake, watching the whole conversation play out.

"You spyin' on me?" he accused angrily.

"Like I care about your petty domestic disputes," Kaiba smirked. "Honestly, hearing you two screaming woke me up. Now would you like to know why your 'princess' just ran off in a huff, or not?"

"What do you know?" asked Jounouchi.

"I know you disappointed Himeko three years ago," Kaiba replied.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Jounouchi cried.

"Everything," Kaiba explained. "Last time she trusted you to help her? When she needed you most, you abandoned her, moron. Now she's so convinced that accepting your help will hurt her just as much as in the end as it did last time…Dude, I mean, she had a nervous breakdown over you. Now she feels like it's better to nearly kill herself every day, to bleed and toil and deal with ME, for Chrissakes, then to trust you again. Because being disappointed by you again? I think that's the only wound that could actually kill her."

Jounouchi's eyes widened. It made sense.

"Shouldn't you know this already?" Kaiba asked Jounouchi as he turned to leave. "I mean, out of the two of us, _you're _the only one who claims to be her friend."


End file.
